title: A long-term geriatric teaching ward in an acute-care hospital: a three-year experience.
abstract: The development and management of a long-term geriatric ward in an acute-care teaching hospital are described. Structure, function, and costs are discussed, and issues of service and medical education are emphasized. A full geriatric team (physician, nurse, social worker, physiotherapist, and occupational therapist) assessed 165 long-term patients in the general wards of the hospital and accepted 98 for admission to the new long-term geriatric ward. Of these, 31 were discharged; 29 per cent went to a facility that encouraged more independent living. Eighteen patients died during their stay in the geriatric ward; autopsies were obtained in 33 per cent--a higher autopsy rate than the average for general hospitals. General hospitals may continue to have large populations of chronically ill patients. This model for a geriatric ward may offer a way of dealing with a difficult situation.
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001344:Autopsy; D001508:Bed Conversion; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003422:Critical Care; D005260:Female; D005853:Geriatrics / Q000191:economics / Q000193:education*; D006746:Hospital Bed Capacity, 500 and over; D006757:Hospital Units / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D007350:Insurance, Hospitalization; D007357:Insurance, Physician Services; D007396:Internship and Residency; D008134:Long-Term Care / Q000191:economics; D008297:Male; D010348:Patient Care Team; D011792:Quebec; D013337:Students, Medical